On Saturday, Right to Roam Kernow organised a trespass on the Boconnoc Estate, Lostwithiel, with a dozen Cornish residents taking part. The trespass is part of a month-long campaign across the UK, demanding “a Bill in the next King’s Speech that would give the public a right of responsible access in the countryside.”

The Boconnoc Estate is an historic site in Cornish history. Passed from one aristocrat to another since the Domesday Book, its most famous transfer of ownership was to Thomas Pitt, former governor of Madras for the British East India Company during the early British colonisation of India.

Pitt acquired the moniker “Diamond Pitt” for his ownership of an Indian diamond, stolen from a slave – according to legend – which he sold in order to buy the Boconnoc Estate in 1717. The Regent (Pitt) Diamond has a modern valuation of £60 million, and sits in the Louvre Museum, Paris. The Pitt family would, as the Estate’s website states, produce two Prime Ministers, both of whom at one time held the Estate as family property. The descendants of the Pitt family, the Fortescues, are the current owners of the Estate.

The Fortescue family, History of the Boconnoc Estate website.

Today, the Boconnoc Estate is largely sectioned off from public access. Right to Roam allege this is because of commercial logging interests and pheasant shooting, which was why they chose to trespass on the estate. By doing so, they hope to bring attention to the small amount of access the British public has to the natural environment – with over 70% of woodland in England and Cornwall fenced off.

Trespass is a civil offence in the UK, therefore those that do so are not liable for criminal prosecution. This excludes those who commit aggravated trespass, squat, or breach the peace. It has therefore become a key tactic in campaigns for increased public access, such as Right to Roam, whose supporters peacefully encroach on large landholdings en masse

In a press release, a spokesperson from Right to Roam Kernow said:
“If you go down to the woods today, you’re in for a big surprise – most of them are closed to the public.

“It’s appalling that three-quarters of all the woods in England and Cornwall are inaccessible. Boconnoc Estate is just one example of this. In this wood, we are excluded unless we have the money to pay to walk around it by hiring a holiday cottage on the Estate.”

“We need the Government to change this by introducing a new Right to Roam Bill in the next King’s Speech this May, and give the people the right to walk in our own woods.”

Another spokesperson from the Right to Roam national campaign added:

“The British public loves trees, but thousands of woods are off-limits simply because of corporate logging interests or due to a landowner using their woods for pheasant shooting.

“Not only does this deny people the chance for healthy exercise in beautiful woodlands – it also severs our connection to the stories and myths people have told about our incredible ancient trees for centuries.

“Woods were left out of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act because of opposition from the shooting industry. It’s time Ministers finally changed this by creating a right of responsible access to England’s glorious countryside.”

Featured Image via: Right to Roam Kernow.